


Possible Futures

by Latart0903



Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: F/M, mention of Princess Firefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23231893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latart0903/pseuds/Latart0903
Summary: A couple somewhat related shorts where Deathbringer reflects on his path and the possible futures that lie ahead.Chapter 1: Deathbringer and GreatnessChapter 2: Deathbringer and Glory (mentions Firefly of course...)
Relationships: Deathbringer & Greatness, Deathbringer/Glory (Wings of Fire)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 29





	1. Wretched Futures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greatness visits Deathbringer in the dungeon. She wants to know why he’d risk everything to save a RainWing and if he has forgotten an agreement they made years ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes places during the Dark Secret.
> 
> I was revisiting book 4 and my curiosity was piqued when Greatness’s voice cracks when she sends Deathbringer to the dungeon. I think these two have history...

He heard the talonsteps before Splendor did. Or perhaps the former RainWing queen was slower to react because she was so weak. He shivered at the sight of her atrophied limbs and ashen scales, so different from Glory’s strength and vibrancy. 

Glory. 

He prayed she’d gotten back safely. And he wasn’t one for prayer; the moons and spirits probably didn’t care if he had a debilitating crush. Maybe crush wasn’t the right word. It didn’t have destiny-altering implications, but he couldn’t define the hopeful flutter in his chest whenever he replayed her every smirk and playful glare. She’d mesmerized him with her venomous sarcasm and sealed the deal with a right hook to the jaw. Literally. She had hit him surprisingly hard while they grappled over Blaze’s fate. Come to think of it, his jaw still hurt a bit. And the scratches on his underbelly hadn’t quite healed. And… that warm flutter in his chest was back again.

The talonsteps drew near and in the torchlight, Greatness’s ostentatious diamonds gleamed a haunting orange, like she was wearing a necklace of fire. She wrinkled her snout as she passed the poor RainWing and then her eyes locked with Deathbringer’s. 

“I hate seeing you like this. In here. In these chains,” she said, voice wavering with emotion.

His Glory-induced warmth fizzled out. He thought about snapping at Greatness and her forced tears. _So go back to the council chamber and stop looking at me._ But he held back because he knew this dragon all too well. Greatness would simply collapse in tears. She was so unsure of herself. So fragile. So unlike the confident NightWing princess she was supposed to be.

Instead he said with ever-so-subtle disdain, “Forgive me for not bowing. Not a whole lot of room in here.”

She didn’t even acknowledge his comment. “Was Vengeance telling the truth? Did you really bring that MudWing here?”

Deathbringer looked at his talons, at a loss for an explanation that wouldn’t damn him to a scalding lava death. His mind fixated on how Vengeance had referred to him as the princess’s “pet assassin”. Is that really how his fellow NightWings spoke about him when he wasn’t around? And when was he ever around?

“Showing an outsider our secret home?” Greatness continued. “To free two _lowly_ RainWings? Why would you do that?”

Splendor’s eyes darted toward him at the mention of freeing RainWings, a glimmer of hope shining through her dull scales. And now he had two pairs of royal eyes trying to pry answers from him. Perhaps he could try talking to Splendor again. He wanted to learn everything he could about Glory’s tribe. Okay, he had ulterior motives and really just wanted to know more about Glory but learning about her tribe was a start. Splendor had ignored his first few attempts at conversation, but now he’d possibly gained a sliver of her trust.

“I can’t make sense of it, Deathbringer. You’ve betrayed your tribe to save a RainWing you were ordered to kill? And apparently not just an ordinary RainWing, Morrowseer says she might be dangerous. Have you gone mad? Please, answer me! Say something!”

Greatness was right. Glory wasn’t ordinary. She wasn’t like any dragon he’d ever met. _Ugh, now is not the time for these ridiculous butterflies again. Get a hold of yourself!_ “What we’re doing is wrong,” he finally said. 

The princess scoffed. “Since when has that ever bothered you? Your entire purpose is to kill whomever we tell you to. The Queen’s plan and the tribe’s only hope for the future is within reach and yet crumbling before our eyes. Because you’ve decided you have morals? _Now?_ ” She abruptly broke down, clinging to the bars. “I’m sorry. I just—help me understand. Please. Mother has ordered your death but I can’t bring myself to tell the guards. I can’t say the words.”

Deathbringer heaved a sigh. How could he tell her the truth when he didn’t even have the right words to describe it? “I’m sorry you’re in this position,” he said. _What a dumb thing to say. I’m the one locked in a moons-forsaken dungeon I can barely stand in._

“Did the prophecy dragonets bribe you?”

Deathbringer coughed out a laugh. “They’re quite famous but they don’t exactly have the resources. And they’re smart, but they don’t think like that.”

“Just tell me why you did it. If you don’t, I’ll assume the worst.”

“Which is...”

“That you’re in love with a stupid RainWing. And that you’re more cowardly than a RainWing because you’d rather risk the future of our tribe than stain your talons with her blood. You don’t want to bear the burden of always wondering what could have been if you had spared her worthless life.”

Love. Was that the word he was looking for? The dizzying swell in his heart told him yes, but the logical part of his brain pushed back. _It takes longer than a few days to know_ love. _Really? How naive can you be?_

His silence was sufficient evidence for Greatness. “That’s it, isn’t it? A RainWing… How could you?” she seethed.

He stole a glance up at her. Tears of pain trailed down the delicate scales on her face. The anger drained from her voice as she continued. “Somehow… I always knew you’d meet someone as you traveled the continent while I rotted here, this miserable volcano slowly killing me each time I draw breath. You get to see the stars and watch the moons rise. You don’t have to wait days or weeks between meals. I was so stupid to think we could be together after the war.”

Her words stung. “I’m sorry,” was all he could muster. 

He remembered when he was young, just a few assassinations to his name, asking Greatness if she’d ever seen the ocean. He was back at the fortress for his first status report to the council. He remembered how sad and distant her eyes were as she thought of the ocean she’d only experienced in scrolls. She hated being trapped here. Hated the thought of having to rule the NightWings one day.

The next time Deathbringer returned to the fortress, he brought Greatness a conch shell. She had examined it like it was treasure and demanded he tell her every detail about the ocean: the indescribable colors and smells and whatever that _feeling_ was of simply standing on the shore and breathing in that air. She relished in any detail that could transport her out of her nightmare even if only for a few fleeting moments.

Each time he returned after that he would bring back something different for her. Eventually the trinkets turned into exotic treats from various markets around the continent. She insisted they share whatever he’d brought while he regaled her with the adventures of his travels. Were these the innocuous gestures that had earned him “pet” status?

He recalled the silly plan they’d concocted as they huddled on a rock in Greatness’s private sleeping cave, looking out over the fortress and sharing an ornately decorated box of dates from the Kingdom of Sand.

“Mother says I need to show interest in someone or else she’s going to marry me off to a dragon of her choosing. She’s going to pick someone insufferable like Morroseer, I just know it.”

Deathbringer cringed. “Ew.”

“I know. Having to inherit the throne is bad enough.”

“I thought you said Morrowseer maybe had a thing going with Secretkeeper. That poor dragon.”

“I can’t imagine lying there with his gross old… Ugh, never mind,” she said, shuddering.

Deathbringer rolled off of the rock, laughing.

She swatted him with her wing. “Stop laughing at my predicament.”

“I’d marry you,” he casually offered. “If you can’t find anyone else. That is, if the Queen approves.”

“You’re barely an adult. I remember when you were a tiny dragonet. You were this big,” she argued, holding her talons out as wide as a NightWing egg.

“And now I’m bigger than you,” he said, standing over her to demonstrate his point.

“Whatever. It’s not my fault I don’t have unlimited access to prey like you do on the continent.”

“Hey, I’m just saying, if you don’t want to marry Morrowseer I’d be willing to make that sacrifice.”

She playfully swatted him with her tail this time. “Marrying me wouldn’t be a sacrifice you little beast.”

Deathbringer shielded himself with a wing. “Not little anymore,” he sang to provoke her.

Greatness thwacked him with her tail one last time and then returned to her perch to look out at the drab sky. “It’s not a bad idea, actually. I’d rather choose a friend instead of a smug old council member. If she brings it up again, I’ll tell her I’ve chosen someone. We’ll see what happens.”

The memory faded. Greatness, even more tired and defeated than before, stood on the other side of the bars replaying the same conversation in her head. “I thought we had a plan. When the war was over and the tribe had a new home, I’d become queen but it wouldn’t be that bad because you’d be there to help me. And you wouldn’t have to travel the world killing dragons anymore. We could’ve saved each other from our wretched futures. But now… We have nothing. And all because of a RainWing.”

Deathbringer considered that possible future: the reluctant king of a grouchy tribe he barely knew. At least he could tell Morrowseer where to shove his intolerable arrogance and made-up prophecies. 

“I’ll give you a few days, Deathbringer. Maybe you’ll come to your senses.”

Could he really go through with it and play along? Forget Glory and tell Greatness that he’s secretly loved her all these years? Say to hell with the Dragonets of Destiny and the RainWings? Trade this prison for another?

No.

He’d been fooled into doing the wrong thing for years. 

Glory was worth this suffering. She was worth this fight. 

Glory was fierce and determined and she’d be back. Maybe not for him, but for her tribe. And she’d show Greatness a thing or two about how dangerous she really was. Until then, Deathbringer’s future would just have to hang in the balance.


	2. Doomed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before seeking out the Talons of Peace, Moon decides to tell Glory about the vision she had of her future daughter.  
> Jambu is excited.  
> Glory is shocked.  
> Deathbringer is having trouble breathing. Awkward conversation ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an AU that occurs during Book 7/Winter Turning.

“Bir… Bir…” Jambu sounded out.

“There’s a ‘d’ at the end. Remember the letter ‘d’? Like dragon, den…” Glory sighed. “Mangrove, help me out, another ‘d’ word please?”

“Destiny! And Deathbringer!” Deathbringer called into the pavilion with more gusto than was probably necessary.

“Shut up!” Glory shouted back.

But Deathbringer had won when Jambu successfully sounded out the word. “Bir...d. Bird! I did it!”

“Yes, you did,” Glory admitted.

“Thanks, Deathbringer!” Jambu called.

“Don’t thank him,” Glory said before continuing the reading lesson. “Okay, next word.”

“Bu… Bu…”

Deathbringer groaned. Listening to Jambu learn to read was painful. He just wanted to yell out the answers. Bug! Bud! Bur! Bush! Buzz! But Glory berated him every single time. So he held his tongue and reminded himself to stay alert. He scanned the rainforest floor and then moved his sight to the canopy, sweeping in a methodical pattern the way he always did, and then moved his gaze upward to the sky before sweeping back down to the ground.

It only took ten minutes for Deathbringer to reach his breaking point. Jambu was stumbling over the word nap. It was literally Jambu’s favorite thing to do, how could he not figure that one out? But before he could seriously consider flinging himself off the platform, he spotted Kinkajou bounding from treetop to treetop toward the royal pavilion with her clawmates in tow.

“I thought you all were going to find the Talons,” he said.

“Before we go, Moon wanted to share something important with Glory,” Kinkajou replied. 

“Oh?”

“She’s been having visions.”

Oh, great. NightWing VisionsTM. Was Fatespeaker “tutoring” the NightWing students of Jade Mountain in her free time? “Look, Kinkajou. I thought Starflight was going to work it into the curriculum, but there’s no such thing. It’s just a made up bunch of—”

“I know,” Kinkajou chirped. “But Moon is the real thing. I swear!”

\-----

Moon’s eyes stopped glowing and her voice was suddenly her own again. “I haven’t figured out what it all means.”

Ice crawled up Deathbringer’s spine. “That was creepy,” he whispered to Glory.

Glory elbowed him. “Don’t make her feel bad,” she hissed under her breath.

“I also had two visions of the future,” Moon continued. “One where Jade Mountain falls. And also a happy one where the Academy remains intact and dragonets continue to go there. I actually saw your daughter in that vision. She was in the library. I don’t know how, but I just knew who she was when I saw her.”

“My... daughter?” Glory asked, startled. 

At the same time, Deathbringer felt a twinge of sinking, stabbing jealousy in his gut and looked down at the floor. _Who’s the lucky dragon? Maybe it’s time to accept that we don’t have a future together._

“Yes,” Moon replied. “She seemed very intelligent and confident. I thought you might want to know. Starflight and his daughter were in the vision as well. I didn’t catch Starflight’s daughter’s name but he called your daughter Firefly.”

Deathbringer could feel the uncomfortable uncertainty rippling off of Glory’s scales. “Thank you?” she said awkwardly. “I guess I like that name.”

“That’s so cool!” Jambu piped up. “I’m going to have an uncle!”

“No, Jambu. If I have a daughter, _you’d_ be the uncle,” Glory corrected. “She would be your niece.”

“Oh. This family tree stuff is so confusing.”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Glory said.

“So, what does she look like?” Jambu asked.

“In my vision, she’s purple,” Moon replied.

“Cool! Purple, like Grandeur. She’ll be so excited.”

“No, I saw a very dark purple. Almost black in parts, like…” Her eyes darted between Deathbringer and Glory, clearly questioning why she had decided to tell them about her vision. “Like she’s part NightWing.”

“Oh,” Jambu replied. And then his eyes widened. “Ohhhh…” 

Deathbringer went into a coughing fit, choking on absolutely nothing. Every dragon in the pavilion was looking at him and this was probably what embarrassment felt like. Mangrove was shaking his head. Jambu’s raspberry pink shifted to more of an awkward blush. Kinkajou happily squealed and clapped her talons. And Glory... Deathbringer couldn’t look at her. He wasn’t sure why, but it probably had something to do with not wanting to see disgust and disappointment on her face. 

“I’ll be…” Deathbringer sputtered, “...right outside. Excuse me.”

He tumbled out of the pavilion and heaved a gulp of fresh air away from the surprised dragons. Between exaggerated gasps, he heard Mangrove snort and say, “He’s probably taking a victory lap.”

“Stop,” Glory scolded.

Deathbringer cleared his throat. “Heliconia? You there?”

The RainWing appeared in the branch above the pavilion. “Yes, I’m here. I heard the good news. Congratulations,” she said.

“No. No. Not that. Just… take over for a bit, will you?” He flew to a platform in an adjacent tree to wrap his head around what Moon had just said. A dragonet. A princess. He’d be… a father. Responsible for a tiny, innocent, and apparently purple, little girl that liked libraries and history scrolls.

“I don’t know how to do that,” he announced to the sloth observing him. “How to be father? I never knew mine. I’ve never been around any young dragonets. What if I do a terrible job? What if…” He recalled all the times his life had seriously been in danger: cornered by SkyWing Generals, briefly taken hostage by a group of MudWing sibs, confronted by a creepy scavenger, and nearly sentenced to death by his own tribe. So why in three moons was he scared to absolute death about raising a dragonet? “This is so weird.”

Something suddenly pinched his side and startled him. Glory materialized. “Three moons, stop sneaking up on me like that!” he shrieked in an unbecoming pitch. He clutched at his chest and felt his heart trying to escape through his nostrils. “You’re seriously going to kill me. I’m in the middle of an uninhibited meltdown.”

“Yes, I heard you telling that poor sloth.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For flying off and making me look bad? Or for impregnating me in the future?”

“I… I’m not sure.”

Glory huffed. “Having a dragonet with me is that scary to you? I’m trying not to be offended but you’re not exactly reassuring me.”

“No. It’s not that. Being a father isn’t a responsibility I’ve ever thought about. Ever. I thought my entire life would just involve me killing dragons for my tribe. I never thought I would have a family. I never even had the chance to stop and reflect on what it would be like to raise dragonets.”

“I’m sorry you feel tied down,” Glory spat. “Well, don’t let me stop you. Moon assured me it’s only one possible future. There’s plenty of time to alter your destiny.”

“It’s just that raising a dragonet is… well, what if I’m not a good father?”

Glory seemed to stand down, understanding that this freakout wasn’t because of her. “What would you be bad at? The entire village helps to raise all the dragonets. I’ve seen you with Kinkajou, you’re so good with her.”

“Okay, Kinkajou is four years old. She’s not depending on me for like, food and safety. There’s no disciplining and parental guidance and teaching her how to hunt and… Oh, moons. When she’s older we’ll have to deal with relationships. She’ll start dating and...” He crumpled onto the foliage. “I’ll have to become an assassin again.”

“Are you serious? You’re still an assassin. You’re always looking for something to kill. You tackled Prince Winter for no reason and then later you squished a poor bug because it almost landed on me.”

“I thought it was one of those stinging—”

“It was a butterfly.”

“It was very big.”

Glory looked at him like he was an idiot. 

“And menacing,” he tacked on.

“You’re insanely overprotective—”

“I’ve explained this, Glory. You are crucial to—”

“But you’re going to be an amazing father.”

“You… I… You… What? Really? You think…. I…. You…”

“Stop repeating yourself,” Glory commanded with a smirk. “Look, when my friends and I escaped from the Talons, we all wanted to search for our families. We all wanted that perfect reunion and none of us got it. Well, Sunny and Tsunami were close. But _none_ of us got the fairytale family we were looking for. All the five of us wanted was someone that was worried about us. Someone that would have turned the continent upsidedown to find us. You are totally that kind of dragon. And you will definitely be that kind of father.”

Glory brushed Deathbringer’s wing with hers and he was… speechless? Yes, that was what was happening to his paralyzed vocal cords and dumbfounded brain. “Thanks,” he was finally able to say. “That’s not what I thought you’d say.”

“So you ran out of the pavilion just because you couldn’t see yourself as a father?”

“Well, that and… I think I was afraid that you’d be repulsed by the idea.”

“I’ll admit, the notion of King Deathbringer is a little alarming.”

“King Deathbringer? Sounds nice. That implies marriage, though. If you don’t want to marry me and just want to use me for my stellar genes to make cute purple princesses I won’t be offended.”

Glory snorted in amusement. “Well, I won’t be using you for your genes anytime soon. As soon as you left, Moon clarified that she thinks the vision is ten or even fifteen years from now.”

Deathbringer feigned disappointment. “That’s quite a long time to resist me.”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Fifteen years? You are pure evil.”

Glory of course shot him a playfully devious smile that made his legs weak. “Well, think about it. Let’s say she’s Kinkajou’s age in the vision. Plus gestation and egg incubation...”

Deathbringer pretended to count the years on his talons. “I’ll mark my calendar.”

“Very romantic.” 

Deathbringer pretended to consult a stone tablet and did his best Starflight impression. “Um, according to my calculations, if you wish to save the world and fulfill Moon’s prophecy, I must, uh… well, I recommend that we uh, you know…”

She finally barked an uninhibited laugh. It was Deathbringer’s favorite sound in the entire world. “Stop. You’re creeping me out,” she said.

“Well, now that you know the future, are you more likely to alter your course? You could heed Moon’s warning and avoid me for the next ten years.”

“Something tells me you wouldn’t let that happen.” Glory smiled ruefully. “You know, Starflight would sometimes talk about how every possibility branches into a completely different universe. Every choice made or not made plays out in different realities to different versions of ourselves.”

“Mess with my mind some more, why don’t you.”

“I know you’re not much of a scrolls guy and don’t like using your brain very much—”

“Hey!”

“—but didn’t you learn about it in school? It’s a NightWing theory that Starflight read in some philosophy scroll. If the NightWing multiverse theory is true, then there’s a reality where there was never a war. There’s a reality where I never became queen of the RainWings. A reality where the original SkyWing survived and I was never roped into the prophecy. A reality where…”

“Where I killed you?”

“Yeah…”

“And there’s this reality where I charm the scales off of you so much that you desperately want to combine our genes to produce an heir to your throne?”

Glory issued a warning with her eyes. “Enough about your genetic material, already.”

“All right, fine. What if Moon’s vision is one of those alternate realities and not this one?” He flinched. _Would Glory be relieved?_

“Moon said that she didn’t see all possible futures. But I guess if that future doesn’t happen in this reality, it’s bound to happen in a different reality.”

“But in _this_ reality, there’s a chance it won’t happen?” Deathbringer’s heart suddenly felt unsettled, incomplete. A future without this princess—a princess he hadn’t even met—left an empty space he never knew was there to be filled in the first place.

Glory shrugged. “I think we just make the most of the present, do what’s right, and the future will take care of itself.”

“So I’m putting my future in the talons of a bunch of four-year old dragonets? Maybe I should accompany Moon and her winglet to find the Talons of Peace, make sure this prophecy goes according to plan.”

“You’re so selfless,” Glory deadpanned.

“It’s Moon’s plan! I’m just going along with the best possible future for the entire world.”

Deathbringer thought about a small dark purple dragonet with Glory’s features and a smattering of stars on her wings, reading in the library at Jade Mountain Academy. He wished he could see Moon’s exact vision, that she could paint him a picture so he could study it. Memorize every single perfect detail. “What do you think she’ll be like?” he asked Glory.

“I’m hoping the only thing she inherits from you is some silver scales.”

“Weren’t we just talking about how amazing my genes are? She’ll be clever and fast and—Oh, moons. She’s going to be sarcastic just like you. You two will gang up on me. I can just see it now. A lifetime of torment and sarcastic ridicule. Death by a thousand insults.” 

Glory smiled and leaned into him. “Now that’s a future I might like.”

“I’m doomed,” he said, completely at peace with that possible future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
